CBSE Physics: The paper that was

March 9, the day when the CBSE conducted its physics 2015 examination, left many students

worried. Candidates March 9, the day when the CBSE conducted its physics 2015 examination, left many students worried. Candidates wondered how the examination would impact their overall Board performance. Before we analyse the impact, let us look at the question paper.

On an overall scale of difficulty, a large number of students found the paper to be difficult.

The paper was lengthy and time consuming. The number of words required to be written were more than the marks allotted to the questions. The difficulty level was almost the same as that of previous year and the sample paper 2015 given by CBSE. The minimum marks of numericals required to be attempted by students were 12.5 out of 70, which implies 18% of total marks. In the the 2015 CBSE sample paper, however, the minimum marks of numericals required to be attempted by students were 18 out of 70, which implies 26% of total marks.

Calculations were more involved and time-consuming. This year, the paper had 38% ‘easy’ questions, 29% of ‘medium difficulty level’ and 33% ‘difficult’ questions. A lot of application and analysis-based questions were also asked, which could only be answered by students who had a thorough understanding of concepts.

This indicated that in comparison to other state boards, the CBSE physics paper was much more analysis-based which would in all likelihood make scoring difficult for students.

If you think you have not scored well in the physics paper, you will need to ensure that you make up in the remaining examinations.

The Board exam marks will be a critical factor for admission to various colleges, including the admission to engineering colleges through JEE (main), where there is a 40% weightage of CBSE marks in the overall rank determination.